INNOVATION IN THE DESIGN AND DEVELOPMEMT OF A COMMERCIAL FLIGHT TERMINATION SYSTEM By Eugene Kwak B.S., Computer Science, State University of New York, Binghamton M.S., Mechanical Engineering- Product Development Technology, University of Southern California Submitted to the System Design and Management Program In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Engineering and Management ARCHMES MASSACHUSETTS I-NSET At the OF TECHNOLOGY Massachusetts Institute of Technology December 2012 L ( 2012 Eugene Kwak. All rights reserved The author hereby grants to MIT permission to reproduce and to distribute publicly paper and electronic copies of this thesis document in whole or in part in any medium now known or hereafter created. Signature of Author Eugene Kwak System Design and Management Program December 2012 Certified By_ -A ' 'A I Jeffrey Hoffman Professor of the Practice of Aerospace Engineering MIT Thesis Advisor Accepted By - Patrick Hale Director- System Design and Management Program Senior Lecturer- Engineering Systems Division 1 This page has been intentionally left blank 2 Innovation in the Design and Development of a Commercial Flight Termination System By Eugene Kwak Submitted to the System Design and Management Program In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Engineering and Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Abstract With the ramp up of commercial spaceflight over the last decade with the assistance of the US Government and NASA, commercial spaceflight companies such as Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) and Orbital Sciences have taken significant strides in reducing the overall cost of space travel. The overall cost per launch goes far beyond the actual cost of the materials and labor associated with each launch vehicle, and must include all the political, environmental and social costs, which often amount to more than the actual cost of the vehicle itself. The main focus of my thesis is the Flight Termination System (FTS) which is the system used to terminate the flight of the launch vehicle in the event the vehicle veers off course or experiences any anomalies, which would impede its mission and cause a threat to human assets. Because of my work as the lead engineer of the FTS system at SpaceX, this thesis will mainly cover the system used at SpaceX. The FTS system is unique in that the approval of the system is as political and social as it is technical. Systems engineering is applied throughout the process of architecting, designing, testing, and manufacturing, where all stakeholders have a part in the success of each step of the product design. The key to the success of SpaceX lies in innovation, and as this thesis outlines, the FTS system has many innovative products and processes in place, including the establishment of many key relationships with stakeholders. 3 This page has been intentionally left blank 4 Acknowledgements I would like to take this time to thank the many people who have made this thesis possible. Dr. Jeffrey Hoffman, who serves as an inspiration to many, expressed genuine interest in working with me on my thesis and helped develop ideas which had not occurred to me before. The SDM team, especially Patrick Hale for providing me with all the resources I needed and making recommendations based on personal experiences. My cohort for pushing me to work at my absolute limit, especially in January during boot camp and job interviews. I would also like to thank the SpaceX team with whom I had the pleasure of working with for over 5 unforgettable years and making history in the process. Finally, I would like to thank my family, friends and the Good Lord, who have sacrificed a lot of their time and resources to help me succeed in everything that I do. I owe all my success to them. 5 Table of Contents Acknow ledgem ents ................................................................................................................................. 5 The Flight Term ination System -Overview ............................................................................................ 8 W orkflow........................................................................................................................................... 13 Innovation in the Interaction with Different Stakeholders- Ranges, FAA, Army, Air Force, and NASA 18 Am biguity in Requirem ents Between Ranges ................................................................................. 26 Parallel Process.................................................................................................................................. 30 Innovation Through Lead Users and the Use of Com m ercial Parts ................................................. 34 The Use of Com m ercial Parts ............................................................................................................ 39 Utilizing COTS Battery Cells ............................................................................................................... 43 Innovation in Project M anagem ent and Testing............................................................................... 49 Innovation in Testing ......................................................................................................................... 53 Innovation at the Launch site................................................................................................................ 64 Innovation in Integration................................................................................................................... 64 Consolidated System Level Testing ................................................................................................ 67 Innovation Through Use of Software and New Technologies....................................................... 71 Use of M odels.................................................................................................................................... 73 Advanced Com plem entary Hardware ............................................................................................ 76 Further Innovation ................................................................................................................................ 77 NVIDIA M axim us and GPU Com puting .......................................................................................... 78 Synergies w ith NASA and Others .................................................................................................. 82 Thrust Term ination Only ................................................................................................................... 84 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................. 87 References.............................................................................................................................................89 Appendix................................................................................................................................................ 90 Interview with the Senior FTS M anager.......................................................................................... 90 Interview with the Senior Director of Avionics Test and Manufacturing (T&M) .............. 93 6 Figure 1: FTS Arming and Disarming (SpaceX, 2009)............................................................................ 9 Figure 2: Overview of the FTS System (Hadden, 2010)..................................................................... 11 Figure 3: FTS Component List Abbreviated (Hadden, 2010).............................................................. 12 Figure 4: Key Considerations in Designing an FTS System ................................................................ 13 Figure 5: Ideal versus Realistic Product Life Cycle for FTS ................................................................ 15 Figure 6: Approximate Cost Breakdown for FTS ................................................................................ 17 Figure 7: Serial Range Approval Process ........................................................................................... 20 Figure 8: Amount of Tailoring Per Milestone .................................................................................... 21 Figure 9: Example of a Qualification Test (Range Safety Group, 2010) ............................................. 23 Figure 10: Resource Allocation.............................................................................................................. 26 Figure 11: OCV Distribution (Kwak, 2007)......................................................................................... 29 Figure 12: Cell Screening (Kw ak, 2007) ............................................................................................. 29 Figure 13: Concurrent Tailoring............................................................................................................. 31 Figure 14: Lead Users and How Products are Developed (Von Hippel, 2012) .................................. 35 Figure 15: Test Setup (Kw ak, 2007).................................................................................................... 37 Figure 16: Benefits of multiple users (Von Hippel, 2012) .................................................................. 38 Figure 17: Internet Search for Space Rated Relays ..........................................................................